Text a driver? You could be held responsible

It’s been drilled into our heads for the past few years: don’t text and drive. But, what about — don’t text someone who’s driving? ...Even if you’re not? That’s a new decree from a New Jersey court.

A couple hit by a teen who was texting and driving sued both him and the teen girl he was texting with while driving. The court's ruling... (Via WPVI)

"We conclude that a person sending text message has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows, or has special reason to know, that the recipient will view the text while driving." (Via CBS)

The teenage girl was cleared in the case, but basically the judges are saying — if you know someone is driving, don’t text them or you could be deemed electronically present, and may be held responsible.

The issue courts will have, of course, is how to prove that someone knew another person was driving while texting them. (Via WCCB)

WPIX spoke with an attorney who specializes in distracted driving. Here's the video, via CNN...

“If the texter knows or has a special reason to know that the driver will look at that text and respond to it.”

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